The 250th birthday of the United States ought to be a time for reflection of how our system of representative government is faulty.
1. The United States is the only nation in the world with elections for a national legislative body, in which adult citizens of the capital city have no voting representation. That violates every value of the Constitution and the other founding documents of the nation.
2. The United States is the only nation in the world in which candidates for chief executive officer appear on ballots, and yet the person who comes in second is sometimes proclaimed the winner over the candidate who places first.
3. Even though the Constitution says that anyone who meets the age, residence, and citizenship requirements can run for either House of Congress, one state, Georgia, does not permit anyone but a Republican or a Democratic nominee to run for U.S. House. The existing 5% law for other candidates is 83 years old and has never been overcome by a minor party candidate, and has not been overcome by an independent candidate since 1964, when the rules were easier. Evidence has been presented to judges in Georgia that at least twenty candidates have made vigorous attempts to qualify, and they have all failed. The Eleventh Circuit’s response in 2022 was to rule that states have a “compelling” interest in preventing candidates who don’t have huge support from running. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to disturb this ruling.
Sounds like Richard Winger wants communism.
Winger obviously wants more Democrats in office to shove communism down our throats.
1) DC is not a state, it is a federal district. The founders did not want a federal district having too much power. DC has too many government employees, government contractors and lobbyists.
2) The founders set up a system where the states elect the President, not national popular vote. This was meant to not concentrate too much power in high population areas. Some states were granted more land than others and some have larger populations than others.
3) I agree that the ballot access law in Georgia for US House is too difficult. The petition requirement for US House in Georgia should be significantly reduced.
None of those are flaws.
It’s a shame that, instead of celebrating what makes us unique, Mr. Winger just apparently wants us to be like every other country in the world. Why bother to have declared independence, were that the goal?
Roman, I’d say we could improve our congressional ballot access laws here in Georgia. But, I do wonder why Mr. Winger chose those as the worst ballot access barrier in the country. There are many respects in which other states have more difficult ballot access barriers than we do, as Mr. Winger would be the first to know.
1 and 2 are nonstarters. I think from what I read New York has the worst Presidential ballot barriers. But clearly Mr. Winger chose to pick on a Southern state for a reason, as if the damned Yankee scum were better than us.
He’s probably a fan of the evil tyrant Lincoln and his illegal, unconstitutional war. He probably opposes restoring the antebellum constitution and paying reparations to the South for the illegal war and the attendant destruction and illegal confiscation of property.
Restoring the antebellum constitution and compensation of the South are excellent ideas. Kicking kalipornia out of the union would make my triumvirate, in contrast to Mr. Winger’s.
I heartily agree with Andy. If the Electoral College is a bad thing (which Richard implies in his commentary) then so to is the composition of the U.S. Senate. Benjamin Franklin said it best. A Republic if we can keep it.
Winger must like the Cuban, North Korean, or Iranian system better.
What three reforms of government would other readers like to see most?